Ebola Victim's Coffin Lid Flies Off in Congo Burial, Exposing Remains in Outbreak Epicenter
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 1
Ebola Victim's Coffin Lid Flies Off in Congo Burial, Exposing Remains in Outbreak Epicenter
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 1
Summary
A motorcycle rickshaw carrying Innocent Mandro Likpa’s body hit a bump near Mongbwalu, sending his coffin lid rattling off and exposing the remains of a man who had died of Ebola a day earlier.
The incident underscored how unsafe burials can keep Ebola spreading, because corpses remain highly infectious after death and are supposed to be handled only by trained teams in protective gear.
Red Cross workers initially appeared to follow protocol at the hospital, where they showed the body to relatives to build trust in a region where hostility toward health workers is widespread.
Few precautions were visible during the funeral and burial itself, according to reporting from Mongbwalu, the gold-mining town at the center of Congo’s barely controlled outbreak.